--- title: How to Use Social Media Effectively to Generate Leads description: Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest provide targeted advertising services to business owners. Read the article for more information! image: https://blog.digitalstandout.com/hubfs/DS-Square-Logo_v2_web.png --- [Skip to main content](https://blog.digitalstandout.com/5-great-ideas-to-use-for-your-social-media-today#main) [(747) 207-2370](tel:+17472072370) [![Digital Standout](https://blog.digitalstandout.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Templates/Custom/Blog/Digitalstandout%20Feb2015%20Blog/ds-blog/images/ds-logo.png?width=180&height=45&name=ds-logo.png)](https://www.digitalstandout.com/) - [Company](https://www.digitalstandout.com/why-digital-standout/) COMPANY ### About Digital Standout The team, the proof, and the thinking behind the results. #### Our Team Meet the people behind the results. 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[Run free audit →](https://offer.digitalstandout.com/accessibility-ada-audit-tool) [Run a free audit SEO · Accessibility · Reputation](https://offer.digitalstandout.com/medical-seo-audit-tool) [Contact Us](https://www.digitalstandout.com/contact/) [Learning Hub](https://blog.digitalstandout.com) [Inbound Marketing](https://blog.digitalstandout.com/topic/inbound-marketing) # How to Use Social Media Effectively to Generate Leads By [Digital Standout](https://blog.digitalstandout.com/author/digital-standout) Sep 27, 2017 3 min read ![Businessman taking selfie of colleagues in meeting room at creative office.jpeg](https://blog.digitalstandout.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stock%20images/Businessman%20taking%20selfie%20of%20colleagues%20in%20meeting%20room%20at%20creative%20office.jpeg?width=1280&height=602&name=Businessman%20taking%20selfie%20of%20colleagues%20in%20meeting%20room%20at%20creative%20office.jpeg) Business owners need to consider using social media to promote their services and products. Nearly [4 billion people use social media](https://backlinko.com/social-media-users#:~:text=3.96%20billion%20people%20use%20social,to%2082%25%20in%20North%20America) - that's 58.11% of the world's population over 13 years old. With so many people browsing social media, you can get in front of them in many ways to generate leads. The following are some of the best ways to market your services and products.  ## 1. Advertise on Social Media [Social media](https://www.digitalstandout.com/social-media-marketing/) platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest provide targeted advertising services to business owners. Ads are created to promote a business's products and services. The promotion of those ads is set up to target users who fall under specific criteria. Advertisers can choose to only show ads to people in certain states, cities, zip codes, and those who have shown interest in specific topics. Ads can even target age and sex. ![pay to play ppc social media ads paid advertising.jpeg](https://blog.digitalstandout.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stock%20images/top%20view%20of%20businessman%20hand%20working%20with%20new%20modern%20computer%20and%20smart%20phone%20and%20business%20strategy%20on%20wooden%20desk%20as%20concept.jpeg?width=600&height=400&name=top%20view%20of%20businessman%20hand%20working%20with%20new%20modern%20computer%20and%20smart%20phone%20and%20business%20strategy%20on%20wooden%20desk%20as%20concept.jpeg "pay to play ppc social media ads paid advertising.jpeg") [Targeting ads](https://www.digitalstandout.com/social-media-advertising/) allows advertisers to save money by reducing the number of people clicking on the ad who are not interested in purchasing from the business. Advertising costs are based on clicks on the ads, and the number of clicks depends on how many other businesses are running ads for those products or services.  ## 2. Use Influencers Influencers, people with many social media followers, promote products and services. Since they influence many people, business owners believe they can convince their social media followers to make a purchase.  It's important to choose the right influencer for your products and services. Their social media followers must be your target audience, or this marketing strategy will not work. The influencer needs to understand the product or service, so he/she can accurately relay information about it to followers.  Influencer marketing can be expensive depending on how many followers the influencer has and how many times the person promotes the services and products. Identify a few different influencers that have followers who are similar to your typical consumers and work with them on the terms and conditions of the marketing agreement.  ## 3. Publish Videos Videos continue to be an effective way to market products and services. People, especially social media users, enjoy watching and listening to people talk about and demonstrate using products and receiving services.  Videos receive the most engagement through likes, clicks, and comments. When social media posts receive high engagement, social media algorithms believe they are valuable so they are shown to more people (increases reach), which is how business owners can generate more leads and sales.  Create videos that have your staff in them or even customers (with their permission). These are the ones that work the best. People do not want to watch animated videos as much as they want to watch ones that have human beings in them. However, animated videos do receive more engagement than images or text-based posts. In other words, if you can't produce videos with people in them, animated ones are a good alternative. ## 4. Attach an Image Every single post on social media should have an image, and that image should be high quality. Tools such as Canva make it easy for non-designers to create attractive images.  ![Happy woman influencer making video photo selfie on mobile. Focus on smartphone.jpeg](https://blog.digitalstandout.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stock%20images/Happy%20woman%20making%20selfie%20photo%20on%20smartphone%20over%20gray%20background.%20Focus%20on%20smartphone.jpeg?width=600&height=400&name=Happy%20woman%20making%20selfie%20photo%20on%20smartphone%20over%20gray%20background.%20Focus%20on%20smartphone.jpeg "Happy woman influencer making video photo selfie on mobile. Focus on smartphone.jpeg") As mentioned above, videos are the preferred medium on social media, but there needs to be a balance. If you're posting every day on social media, plan to post four images and three videos a week, if possible.  ### Tips for Images: - Avoid too much text, which can take away from the effect of the image. - Use images that elicit emotion. - Simple images are best. - Use images that match your brand. BONUS TIP: If you use Canva, you can filter images by color. Choose a brand color to only see photos with that color so you can choose from ones that match your brand. ## 5. Engage with Your Audience Social media is meant to be social. This means business owners, or those representing business owners, should engage with followers on social media platforms. This involves genuinely caring about their needs and desires, asking questions, and providing guidance and support.  Engaging with your audience sparks a domino effect that generates leads. People will be more likely to engage with your social media posts, visit your website, and make a purchase. Because those people engaged with your posts, this tells the social media platform your posts are valuable, increasing their reach and leading to more people seeing them. When those people are engaged, they, in turn, do the same as the first group. --- Social media is a powerful marketing tool that most business owners should use. Whether it's with advertising, influencers, videos, engagement, or images, you'll find that it will help boost your online lead generation.  In addition to social media, there are many other ways you can increase your lead generation online. Click below to learn about Inbound Marketing - a strategic way to drive targeted traffic to your site that converts easily and quickly. 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